


Out of the Shade

by Tuxedo_Elf



Category: Linked Universe - Fandom, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Genre: Gen, Here At The End of All Things, Oneshot, hero's shade - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-22
Updated: 2019-10-22
Packaged: 2020-12-28 15:11:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21138746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tuxedo_Elf/pseuds/Tuxedo_Elf
Summary: The Hero's Shade has finally eased his regrets, but what comes after so many years in limbo? Short one shot.





	Out of the Shade

Out of the Shade

***

"At last, I have eased my regrets." As the words left him, the Hero's Shade felt an overwhelming relief. For generations he'd lingered, not alive but unaccepting of death. 

Trapped in the form of a stalfos he'd waited, refusing to move on until he'd had the chance to pass on his skills and his knowledge, something that had been denied him in life, despite his best efforts.

It had taken millennia, but hero of Twilight had finally granted him the opportunity to do just that. 

The hero of Twilight. Seeing him again had filled him with a happiness he'd long forgotten. The young hero didn't know him of course; in his time they'd not yet met. That had mattered little, sparring and training him had felt deeply nostalgic and he'd spent the time between training sessions reminiscing. 

That Twilight had been the one to ease his regrets was so *right* there were no words for it. He had many happy memories of the adventures they'd shared in life and these were precious additions for him to cherish.

But... what now? He hardly knew what to do. He'd refused the pleas of his friends and family to linger here and was now unable to reach out to them. If there was an afterlife for him, he had no idea how to get to it. 

He shivered suddenly. He was... cold? That was strange. Cold and hot were not things he'd felt since he'd died. Why now?

A sudden tingling sensation in his hand caused him to look down and he stopped in his tracks when he saw what was causing it.

His hand was flesh once more. 

Stunned, he blinked and looked again, but nothing changed. 

Anxiously, he raised the other arm and found it the same. How? He couldn't even remember what it was like to have a body that was more than a bag of bones. 

As he tried to take it all in, something brushed at his neck, making him jump. Reaching back with his newly restored hand, he touched it. "Oh..." he gasped. It was *hair*.

He knew he was shaking as he removed his helmet for the first time in eons. As he did so his hair fell down around ears and when he touched his face he felt warm skin, not hard bone. The truth hit him like a sword to the gut. He was whole again. 

Blinking, he found that in fact he was *completely* restored, both eyes able to gaze out into the shapeless grey. He touched his face again in wonder, relishing in the feel. 

A smile broke out on his lips as he pulled off his armour, finding his old green tunic underneath. Stretching in delight at being free from the weight, he looked around to see if anything else had changed. Surely all this meant something?

At first, everything seemed to be the same, but gradually the grey mist he was used to grew thicker and closer. He didn't move, watching until it got so close he could hardly see anything. 

Anything except a small light moving towards him, growing brighter but seemingly no larger.

Hesitantly he moved towards it, unafraid but curious.

The light drew nearer until there was nothing else but the dazzling glow, blocking out the mist and surrounding him.

It was then he heard the words that he had dreamed of since he was a child, that he'd never thought to hear again, not even here, not after so long. Words that healed him in a way nothing else ever could.

"Hey, listen! It's time to go home!" 

END


End file.
